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Caught in time

Steve Jones wins the London marathon, 1985

Steve Jones is not exactly a household name despite winning three of the top five city marathons in the world. The telephone receptionist at the London hotel in which he is staying asked how to spell his surname. Two assistants helping to register runners for today’s London event had never heard of him. The loneliness of a long-distance runner.

Jones has never sought fame or fortune. He describes himself as a “blue-collar runner”, and many people would regard him as the archetypal runner’s runner, all blood and guts. However, during a one-year spell in the mid1980s, he put his name on the marathon map by winning twice in Chicago and once in London. Nobody could touch him.

His road to glory started in the Welsh town of Ebbw Vale in 1970. As a 15-year old, he began running cross-country. It was his first athletic discipline and still his fondest love.